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Dealing With Angry Customers
Having a business in the food industry, we will have our fair share of angry customers. Everyone likes their food differently and can be very picky and others may have food allergies that they have to avoid. Keep Calm One of the most important steps in dealing with an angry customer is keeping calm. Nothing will be easily accomplished if both you and the customer are heated and angry. The customer is already upset and when you add an angry employee into the mix as well it makes it very hard for them to feel like you are trying to help them. Separate your own Feelings from the Situation and Don't Take it Personally Even if you are having a bad day you do not want to bring your problems to work. When you have an angry customer come into your place of work and complain to you about something that really is not your fault it is very easy to get upset about it when that person is yelling at you. You must learn to not take anything they say personally; they are more mad about the situation than at you. Stay Humble and Apologize It is important to stay humble to the customer, and even if they are the one at fault, you do not want to make them more upset than they already are. Therefore, if they are blaming you because they just need someone to blame, let them. Nothing is going to be accomplished by trying to prove to them that they are wrong and you are right because they are never going to believe that. Also, it is extrmely important to make sure that you apologize as much as you can for the problem they are concerned with. Even if it is not your fault at all and it might by another employee's problem, the customer does not care. All they care about is that someone knows their concern and cares about it as well. Listen Very Carefully It is very hard to listen to someone who is yelling at you because it is hard to respect someone who isn't respecting you in return, but as an employee it is very important to listen to the problem that the customer has and make sure to listen very well too. It would make the customer even more mad if they had to repeat their whole story again because you were not listening the first time. It is good to repeat back the problem to the customer as you understand it to show the customer that you were listening to their problem and show that you really care about their concern. This also gives the customer the opportunity to correct you if you did not understand the situation correctly. Actively Sympathize Showing that you are sympathetic to their problem is important because it shows that you actually care about the situation and about you job. Use phrases like "I completely understand your frustration--waiting for your food, especially when you're really hungry, is a horrible feeling" or "You are right to be annoyed--delivery delays can throw off a whole night of plans." All the customer wants is for someone to know their concern and understand the problem. Find a Solution (if you don't know ask) Once you understand the situation and understand why they are mad, it is time to find a solution to their problem. You want to first ask the customer what they think the best way to fix the problem would be. It always makes the customer very happy to know that you would take their suggestion, even if you cannot do what they want you to do, it is always good to ask them. In some situations you might not always know what to do, in that case, you need you ask a manager or an assistant manager if one is available. If there is no one around that knows what to do in that certain situation do as much as you can to make the customer happy and if they are still not happy give them the number to call for customer service or let them know when a manager will be in so they can call at that time and get the problem fixed. Take A Moment to Yourself It is very important that after you are done dealing with the angry customer that you time a few minutes to calm down. Dealing with an angry customer, no matter how good we are at dealing with it, is always nerve-racking and something no one wants to deal with. If you go right back into dealing with another customer you could shows signs of agitation and annoyance and that is not a good thing when dealing with customers. Therefore, just take a minute and go get a drink of water or take a few minutes and sit down in the break room, just give yourself time to cool off.